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Theoclymenus: Thanks, and yes, scary indeed. Okay, I could have paused before pressing Yes (to the installation of copy protection) and in hindsight I should have done, but what a price to pay ! I'm sure I'll be able to get it sorted out but I'm not good at this kind of thing and don't trust myself to attempt to put it right myself so I'll be calling in outside help. I posted on GOG because it's such a good place to post stuff like this. Anyway, looks like it's a weekend without PC games for me but que sera sera ...

Elenarie: And if you didn't install the copy protection, the game wouldn't have worked at all. And there is absolutely nothing scary about this, it is like installing an outdated driver for whatever hardware, and then that driver messing up the system.

This is entirely the game's developers' / publishers' fault for being lazy and not setting up a proper system to do updates to the installation files before they are installed, as Starforce provides them with free 're-protection' or whatever they call it.

I've read a few posts on the net about this and everyone seems to think that everyone else is responsible. In other words, as per usual, it's pass-the-buck and no-one is responsible. But I really don't understand this situation in detail as some do because I'm just a gamer who likes to play games. All I know is that it is now my problem and that I have nowhere near the required level of knowledge to resolve it. So basically it is going to cost me money to bring in outside help. I'm just cursing myself at the moment for being so incautious as to have pressed Yes.

I haven't owned many games protected by Starforce, but I have never played any of them either because of problems with the DRM (nothing as catastrophic as yours, just the game refusing to install, launch, play, uninstall and what have you). I'm sure there are ways around it, but because of my rather enormous game library I have just settled on not buying more games burdened by Starforce and getting rid of the few that I bought in the past.

AlKim: I haven't owned many games protected by Starforce, but I have never played any of them either because of problems with the DRM (nothing as catastrophic as yours, just the game refusing to install, launch, play, uninstall and what have you). I'm sure there are ways around it, but because of my rather enormous game library I have just settled on not buying more games burdened by Starforce and getting rid of the few that I bought in the past.

I agree with your approach towards installing games and in future before attempting to install any CD version of a game I will google "(game name) + Windows 7" before I attempt to even install it, and will probably have to do umpteen hours' worth of research before I can be sure that it is safe for me to attempt to install it. But why oh why should I have to do this and why, when it goes pear shaped, is it all supposedly my fault when it clearly isn't ?

It is absolutely INCREDIBLE that no-one can be held to account for this and that it supposedly all my (the gamer's) fault. I have complained before now about how corrupt this industry is in so many ways, and without understanding everything in detail like some people seem to do I always knew I was right anyway, but now that this has happened I know for sure. What is being done about this - nothing ? You have the same situation recurring : make your money, make sure you know how to exploit loopholes in the law and that you employ someone who's good at chicanery and then move on to the next "enterprise", leaving loads of angry people in your wake. In better times my problem (which is fairly minor in the grand scheme of things) would either not have even been possible or would have been crushed as soon as it had once raised its ugly head. So who's to blame then : Microsoft, Starforce or SimBin ? Or me ? It's me isn't it ?

Theoclymenus: Thanks, and yes, scary indeed. Okay, I could have paused before pressing Yes (to the installation of copy protection) and in hindsight I should have done, but what a price to pay ! I'm sure I'll be able to get it sorted out but I'm not good at this kind of thing and don't trust myself to attempt to put it right myself so I'll be calling in outside help. I posted on GOG because it's such a good place to post stuff like this. Anyway, looks like it's a weekend without PC games for me but que sera sera ...

Elenarie: And if you didn't install the copy protection, the game wouldn't have worked at all. And there is absolutely nothing scary about this, it is like installing an outdated driver for whatever hardware, and then that driver messing up the system.

This is entirely the game's developers' / publishers' fault for being lazy and not setting up a proper system to do updates to the installation files before they are installed, as Starforce provides them with free 're-protection' or whatever they call it.

How is it not scary ? I think it is scary. I think I know what you are saying and guess that you are looking at it from a "scientific" point of view (from which point of view nothing is scary and everything is just a "fact" (even though there are no facts, and science. Is too simplistic anyway - but, hey, let's not get too philosophical)) and I don't even sense that you "approve" of it (I sense rather that you are sympathetic) , but what IS scary is that it is not only possible for this to happen (and it could so easily happen to anyone who owns a CD (non-pirated, ironically) version of this game) to people but that when it has happened everyone runs a mile and no-one is prepared to take responsibility. This kind of thing is going on all the time now, and it is like criminal activity which is being condoned. How is that not scary ?

And I bought a CD version of the game and it ruined my computer. But buying a CD version is what the anti-piracy crowd wanted us to do isn't it ? I'm not joking : I would seriously hurt the people responsible for this if I knew who they were.

AlKim: I haven't owned many games protected by Starforce, but I have never played any of them either because of problems with the DRM (nothing as catastrophic as yours, just the game refusing to install, launch, play, uninstall and what have you). I'm sure there are ways around it, but because of my rather enormous game library I have just settled on not buying more games burdened by Starforce and getting rid of the few that I bought in the past.

Theoclymenus: I agree with your approach towards installing games and in future before attempting to install any CD version of a game I will google "(game name) + Windows 7" before I attempt to even install it, and will probably have to do umpteen hours' worth of research before I can be sure that it is safe for me to attempt to install it. But why oh why should I have to do this and why, when it goes pear shaped, is it all supposedly my fault when it clearly isn't ?

It is absolutely INCREDIBLE that no-one can be held to account for this and that it supposedly all my (the gamer's) fault. I have complained before now about how corrupt this industry is in so many ways, and without understanding everything in detail like some people seem to do I always knew I was right anyway, but now that this has happened I know for sure. What is being done about this - nothing ? You have the same situation recurring : make your money, make sure you know how to exploit loopholes in the law and that you employ someone who's good at chicanery and then move on to the next "enterprise", leaving loads of angry people in your wake. In better times my problem (which is fairly minor in the grand scheme of things) would either not have even been possible or would have been crushed as soon as it had once raised its ugly head. So who's to blame then : Microsoft, Starforce or SimBin ? Or me ? It's me isn't it ?

Unfortunately this is the sad face of PC gaming that we have all been watching grow into a real cow over the last decade or so. DRM is not there to be friendly, and since its introduction it has done nothing but screw with peoples machines. Early DRM would stop your CD burner working. Or like Pandora Tomorrow not work at all if your system did not match the exact quoted spec, not even a service pack into XP above the one written in. Put some games onto a machine without internet access and you cannot play. Some even eat up space on your hard drive for no good reason and the worst only allow installation to a certain location with limited online activation, and if you move them they will refuse to bloody work, (Sacred 2). So DRM crashing a machine really is no surprise. DRM is the market trying to kill itself off so they can go play on the 'safe' consoles. It is not you, it really is them.

In short- DRM is that really ugly girlfriend who threw tantrums when you did not pay her attention, and acted like a cow when you did. Join everyone else here with the lovely, kind and gentle world of DRM free. It is fun, we have freedom and there is no calling at 6pm to make sure you really are driving home from work.

Theoclymenus: I agree with your approach towards installing games and in future before attempting to install any CD version of a game I will google "(game name) + Windows 7" before I attempt to even install it, and will probably have to do umpteen hours' worth of research before I can be sure that it is safe for me to attempt to install it. But why oh why should I have to do this and why, when it goes pear shaped, is it all supposedly my fault when it clearly isn't ?

It is absolutely INCREDIBLE that no-one can be held to account for this and that it supposedly all my (the gamer's) fault. I have complained before now about how corrupt this industry is in so many ways, and without understanding everything in detail like some people seem to do I always knew I was right anyway, but now that this has happened I know for sure. What is being done about this - nothing ? You have the same situation recurring : make your money, make sure you know how to exploit loopholes in the law and that you employ someone who's good at chicanery and then move on to the next "enterprise", leaving loads of angry people in your wake. In better times my problem (which is fairly minor in the grand scheme of things) would either not have even been possible or would have been crushed as soon as it had once raised its ugly head. So who's to blame then : Microsoft, Starforce or SimBin ? Or me ? It's me isn't it ?

011284mm: Unfortunately this is the sad face of PC gaming that we have all been watching grow into a real cow over the last decade or so. DRM is not there to be friendly, and since its introduction it has done nothing but screw with peoples machines. Early DRM would stop your CD burner working. Or like Pandora Tomorrow not work at all if your system did not match the exact quoted spec, not even a service pack into XP above the one written in. Put some games onto a machine without internet access and you cannot play. Some even eat up space on your hard drive for no good reason and the worst only allow installation to a certain location with limited online activation, and if you move them they will refuse to bloody work, (Sacred 2). So DRM crashing a machine really is no surprise. DRM is the market trying to kill itself off so they can go play on the 'safe' consoles. It is not you, it really is them.

In short- DRM is that really ugly girlfriend who threw tantrums when you did not pay her attention, and acted like a cow when you did. Join everyone else here with the lovely, kind and gentle world of DRM free. It is fun, we have freedom and there is no calling at 6pm to make sure you really are driving home from work.

I already joined this kind and gentle world (now accessible only from my iPad unfortunately) to the tune of 50 games but it only takes one complete (insert expletive of your choice) to ruin the whole party, and that expletive was, in my case, GT Legends. So may I cordially congratulate all those parties who ruined the party and wish them torture, death and destruction in the future. I would seriously love to do something more than merely "wish" them harm ..... Enjoy your computers guys because mine is FUCKED, thanks to GT Legends.

0.o I honestly don't see how this would be Microsoft's fault for their crappy coding snuffing the OS. To me this was a joint fuckup between the developer and Starforce. Starforce for creating the destructive coding, and the developer for using it. Microsoft only provided the OS in this situation. Now if Microsoft was the developer, double shame on them.

And then once it's in Safe Mode, your computer will work as normal. Just find the files for GT Whatever and delete them. All of them and, of course, then also delete the Starforce files. You should then be able to reboot your computer in regular mode and get on as normal.

Elenarie: Or run Safe Mode with Networking support and update Starforce's outdated driver. :p

You could do that but, frankly, he doesn't sound too computer savvy :) (Nothing wrong with that, I wasn't for the first few years I owned my first computer).

Plus, for me, if I install something that buggers up my computer, especially if it's just a game, I get rid of it completely as, from experience, the resultant hours often spent trying to 'fix it' are just not worth the aggravation. Especially as there isn't 100 percent evidence that it's just a Starforce outdated driver. It could be something else entirely.

Elenarie: Or run Safe Mode with Networking support and update Starforce's outdated driver. :p

Bloodygoodgames: You could do that but, frankly, he doesn't sound too computer savvy :) (Nothing wrong with that, I wasn't for the first few years I owned my first computer).

Plus, for me, if I install something that buggers up my computer, especially if it's just a game, I get rid of it completely as, from experience, the resultant hours often spent trying to 'fix it' are just not worth the aggravation. Especially as there isn't 100 percent evidence that it's just a Starforce outdated driver. It could be something else entirely.

I'm not computer savvy, I'd be the first to admit that - but I'm certainly not thick. And because I'm not thick I'm not going to take just anyone's advice here. Do you understand what happened here ? I inserted a CD, I went through a normal install procedure, and then, when attempting to launch the game, I was asked whether I wanted to install the protection software (I can't actually remember what it said on the screen, shame on me for not having a photographic memory and not taking notes). I clicked Yes and now my computer will not start.

I didn't willingly or knowingly install Starforce on my computer - I just pressed Yes. So what the hell are you talking about ? And it is 100% Starforce. People like you are so irritating.

The dialog window asked you to install the protection software, in this case, Starforce. Starforce comes with a driver that enables it to perform in certain low level rings (or with more privileges) to more efficiently block users from trying to work around the protection. The driver that came with that package was most likely out of date, since even on Starforce's website it is stated which versions need updating, and other useful info and crap.

Since you didn't do anything else between putting in the disc and restarting the system (and installing the game and the protection software, of course), it is safe to assume that the driver is the problem because you really didn't tell us anything, except that your system doesn't start (which doesn't provide us with any info at all).

Not sure why you're raging at us, but feel free to lash out more, I and others tried to help, but apparently we shouldn't have tried, so have fun with the system not working.

I'm not raging at everyone, I'm just not sure what to do. In fact I thank everyone for their replies, as long as they weren't being sarcastic because they have superior computer knowledge. I suppose I'm worried about trying out any of the solutions. I really don't trust myself with computers : one tiny error and your whole system is history. Anyway, thanks for your help and no offence meant to anyone who tried to help me.

Theoclymenus: I suppose I'm worried about trying out any of the solutions. I really don't trust myself with computers : one tiny error and your whole system is history.

This is the reason, while it's always nice to know experts, it pays to know just a little bit of what you're doing. Not necessarily directed to you personally because of this incident but just saying. My advice: I would read up on everything you can find on StarForce, possibly create a few more similar threads like this one but not on gaming forums but on hardware/software/computer geek forums.

Or if money isn't an issue find a local computer repair shop and let them have a look.